(8) Wed Feb 22 2006 22:23Stereotype New York:
Car #1 wants to turn left. It is blocked by car #2, which is trying to go straight in the opposite direction but is blocked by traffic all the way to the next light. Car #2 can't move, and it's blocking the intersection. So of course car #1 honks at it. Cars behind car #1 honk at it because its deadlocked desire to turn left is preventing them from going straight. Honk honk.

The occupants of cars #1 and #2 now roll down their windows and begin to argue. Who knows what about.

This argument continues long after the light in front of car #2 turns green, and the cars in front of it have moved on. Now car #2 could move too, but the driver's still arguing with the driver of car #1. Everyone loses! Honk honk. Thats's New York.

Somehow people just don't do that in Chicago. I like to think we are friendlier. People honk all the time in Mexico City, but I seldom see people get mad. I like to think it's Chicago's Latin American influence that makes us ignore these inconveniences instead of being uselessly angry.

(I'm quite serious about not driving. They should adopt a no-private-cars rule for, at least, all of Manhattan south of Central Park. Only taxis, rental cars (incl. moving vans), and trucks. No trucks in the daytime, either.)

People on the East coast use their horns much more than on the West Coast, and people in other countries (such as Romania or Hong Kong) use them even more. West Coasters are too laidback for horn-usage.